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Post by smitty on Jun 23, 2021 0:55:17 GMT
My wife and I bought this property about 8 years ago. Stuffed away in the barn between a couple of milking stalls was this gem.  I believe this unit has not been powered up for 35 - 40 years. Well, yesterday afternoon I finally got around to digging it out of 40 years of hay, dirt, scrap wood and fencing. Today, I was feeling a little crazy and decided to pull a 200 foot extension cord out to the barn and plug it in real quick to see if the compressor would even startup. So I did the unthinkable, I just plugged it in. The compressor started up and ran great. I let it run for about 30 minutes and could hear some bubbling in the compressor, but it never got cool. Maybe I didn't let it run long enough. Looking for suggestions for next steps. Thanks in advance for any advice you may have. Smitty Attachments:
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Post by turbokinetic on Jun 23, 2021 2:17:53 GMT
My wife and I bought this property about 8 years ago. Stuffed away in the barn between a couple of milking stalls was this gem. I believe this unit has not been powered up for 35 - 40 years. Well, yesterday afternoon I finally got around to digging it out of 40 years of hay, dirt, scrap wood and fencing. Today, I was feeling a little crazy and decided to pull a 200 foot extension cord out to the barn and plug it in real quick to see if the compressor would even startup. So I did the unthinkable, I just plugged it in. The compressor started up and ran great. I let it run for about 30 minutes and could hear some bubbling in the compressor, but it never got cool. Maybe I didn't let it run long enough. Looking for suggestions for next steps. Thanks in advance for any advice you may have. Smitty That is very nice! Love the barn-finds. With the early Frigidaires like this, it may take up to an hour or so for the evaporator to begin cooling. I would carefully inspect the coils underneath or on the back, to be sure there aren't any rust holes; then let it run an hour or so (no more than 3 hours) and see what happens. If it's not cooling, there are alternative refrigerants which will be usable in this assuming that's the problem. So don't give up if it's lost its charge. Sincerely, David |
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Post by jake on Jun 23, 2021 17:10:37 GMT
That is a nice Frigidaire! Looks like a 1946 model. I agree with turbokinetic, both my 1950 Frigidaires had sat unused for many years before I bought them and I didn't see any cooling until they had run for about an hour. Hearing refrigerant bubbling in the freezer compartment (evaporator) is a very good sign! Is the model number still on the back? It will be in large print. Something like M1-7, for example.
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Post by smitty on Jun 23, 2021 19:01:46 GMT
That is a nice Frigidaire! Looks like a 1946 model. I agree with turbokinetic, both my 1950 Frigidaires had sat unused for many years before I bought them and I didn't see any cooling until they had run for about an hour. Hearing refrigerant bubbling in the freezer compartment (evaporator) is a very good sign! Is the model number still on the back? It will be in large print. Something like M1-7, for example. Maybe exactly like M1-7. Attachments:
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Post by jake on Jun 23, 2021 20:26:19 GMT
Awesome, lol. Then it's a 1946 model. I see the original wiring diagram is there which is good to have too.
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Post by smitty on Jun 24, 2021 2:35:36 GMT
I let it run for about 2 1/2 hours today and it only cooled a bit. Compressor was warm to the touch, but not so much you couldn't leave your hand on it. I'll have to get it pulled out to where I can give it a good inspection this weekend. I don't have the tool to simply add freon to it. So I guess I'll used David's trick from his videos on a similar unit to add a Schrader valve to pull a vacuum and verify that it holds. If so, then I'll see about coolant options.
Thanks for the advice,
Smitty
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Post by jake on Jun 24, 2021 3:25:30 GMT
Did the freezer get fully frosted?
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Post by smitty on Jun 24, 2021 11:22:52 GMT
Not even a little, just a little cool.
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Post by turbokinetic on Jun 24, 2021 11:55:07 GMT
Not even a little, just a little cool. That's frustrating. Seems like the charge has been lost. There's no need in continuing to run it. There is the possibility of a large leak on the low-side of the system; which could allow air to draw back into the system and cause damage to the compressor. In your picture of the rear of the cabinet, the compressor is visible and a little of the rear of the condenser fins. Those look quite rusted which could mean a pinhole has come in the lines. It would be wise to investigate this closely in this area. You may want to install a service port onto the system and put nitrogen pressure in the system to help look for leaks. |
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